Kristol’s tone also shows me that while he can seem like an authentic conservative at times, he has an elitist Krauthammer-like air about him that seems unimpressed about much outside the milquetoast Beltway Establishment he’s known for decades. Kristol’s a survivor in that world, so he sees things through that prism while failing to appreciate that the rest of us live in that other world (the real one) and are getting mighty frustrated with the same old games. It also seems obvious that Kristol only read his friend’s accounts of Paul’s filibuster rather than watching it himself. Either that or he’s being disingenuous.

Paul represents something new — an outsider’s perspective to the old Washington game. The Establishment’s annoyance should be a badge of honor for the new Guard.